Queen's Brian May to make 'riff album' with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi

The album will allow musicians to make their own songs with Iommi's riffs

Queen guitarist Brian May plans to make an album of riffs with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.

The badger-loving rocker made the revelation in the latest issue of Kerrang!, in which a number of fellow musicians pose questions to the Queen axeman.

Iommi asks, "When are we going to get to work on that album of riffs together? You know what I'm talking about…" May replies: "Yes, I do know what he's talking about and I'm very, very keen. The record he's talking about was supposed to be a secret but I guess he's blown it now!"

He explains that on visiting Iommi's studio, he's been struck by the amount of unused material the Black Sabbath man has. "I thought it would be great to make a compilation out of them," May says. "The idea was to put all these riffs out in some form so that people could build their own songs from them. You could make your own music with Tony Iommi on guitar!" A timescale for the album has not been revealed, meaning would-be Ozzy Osbournes could be waiting a long time.

Recently, Brian May was named animal welfare charity PETA UK's Person Of The Year for 2012 for his efforts to help stop the culling of badgers. PETA's Mimi Bekhechi said of May: "In his fight to save Britain's badgers, Brian May never backed down: he spread his message of compassion for animals through everything he said, wrote and even wore until the world sat up and paid attention. His tenacity and boldness are an inspiration to kind people everywhere."

Badgers are currently under threat after farmers in England were given a licence to shoot them in a bid to reduce tuberculosis in cattle for the first time in Gloucestershire.